Meaning & Origins

Spanish and Portuguese: mostly from a short form of Spanish (del) Rosario, Portuguese (do) Rosá, from rosario ‘rosary’; or from the Marian name María del Rosario, given in particular to a girl who was born on the festival of Our Lady of the Rosary, celebrated on the first Sunday in October. The word derives from Late Latin rosarium ‘rose garden’, and was transferred to a set of devotions dedicated to the Virgin Mary as the result of the medieval symbolism which constantly compared her to a rose.